


Love and Promises

by LitChick88 (CapaldiGirl88)



Category: Impractical Jokers, the tenderloins
Genre: Anger, Best Friends, Childbirth, F/M, Fighting, Infidelity, Love, Pregnancy, Sadness, Sex, relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:52:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapaldiGirl88/pseuds/LitChick88
Summary: This is the continuation of Brian and Jen's story from 'Want, Need, Have.'





	1. Coffee

Chapter One

Slipping her phone into the pocket of her handbag, Jen ran a hand through her wavy blonde hair, ruffling the locks to ensure that they sat perfectly on her shoulders. She crossed the road with a slight jog, her slim hand clutching at the strap of her handbag as it rested on her shoulder.   
She spotted the café she was meeting Brian at, a quaint little corner café pretty even between both of their houses, and felt butterflies whizz around her tummy. She looked down at the skinny jeans and long t-shirt combination and began to doubt whether she should have made more of an effort. Her gold flats matched the chunky bangle on her wrist and the wide stripe on her handbag.   
“Right here we go!” Jen muttered before reaching the door of the café, quickly grabbing hold of the handle before she lost her nerve and pushed against the glass.   
Entering the café, it wasn’t too full however Jen couldn’t spot Brian, her eyes preprogrammed to immediately spot Brian’s long hair, just as she could always spot Joe’s gelled spikes or Murr’s shiny bald spot- however there was no male customer in the café that had shaggy hair, let alone the straggly greying long locks that Brian was famed for.   
Deciding that she should probably grab a table and watch for Brian, she headed towards the sprawling counter to order a coffee and wait however as she took another look around the room she felt her heart stop as she caught a glimpse of the man she was looking for.  
“Brian?!”  
“Hey Jen- everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  
“Your hair!” Jen murmured, her dark blue eyes glued to the short dark brown hair atop of Brian’s head and not the shaggy locks that she enjoyed running her fingers through. Brian ran his fingers through his newly shawn locks and gave Jen an impish grin.  
“Do ya like it?   
Jen had to shake herself out of her thoughts before smiling softly at Brian, nodding at him.  
“It looks great- makes you look different but in a good way.” Brian grinned and then gestured to the seat opposite him.  
“Jen sit down.” The pair chuckled softly as Jen took a seat, both of them realising just how humorous the moment was as they both contemplated his new haircut.   
“What made you cut your hair? This was your trademark, you’ve had your long locks for as long as anyone has known you.”  
“I figured it was time for a change. I’ve done a fair bit of thinking the last few days and decided that there is quite a bit I should change.” Jen smiled and picked up the menu on the table, not quite sure how she should reply to that comment.   
A couple of silent moments passed as Jen stared at the menu, her eyes seeing the words however her brain didn’t register any of them as it was too busy filling itself with images of Brian’s short hair and sending her heart racing at the scent of him that drove her wild.  
“How are you Jen? You look good.” Brian murmured, picking up his half empty coffee mug and bringing it to his lips, his chocolate eyes never leaving her face as he took a sip of the now tepid brew.  
“I’m doing okay- my leg is feeling a lot better. Just a bit stiff in the ankle if it’s a little cold or I’ve been walking or standing for a long time.” Brian nodded and gave a soft smile before signalling the waitress, knowing that Jen would be wanting a drink and he needed some fresh coffee. 

Brian and Jen had chatted and worked their way through two mugs of coffee each before Jen looked at her watch and realised that she had been sat with Brian for nearly two hours, the pair of them enjoying each other’s company so much- without the stresses of worrying about falling into bed with each other and misunderstandings.  
“I’ve got to go I’m afraid Brian, I’ve got lots to do in preparation for the meeting on Monday.” Jen noticed that Brian looked almost sad at her announcement but gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes as he stood up and moved to pull back her chair.  
“Why thank you kind sir.” Jen chuckled, however electricity sparked between them as their eyes met- the pair of them sharing the same breath as their eyes got closer as did their lips.   
“Jen…” Brian breathed and the noise seemed to jolt Jen out of her reverie, forcing her to move her head back and breaking the spell between them.  
“Too soon.” Jen murmured and Brian nodded once before pushing Jen’s chair back in and leading the way out of the little café in the corner.

Standing outside the café, Brian smiled at Jen and held open his arms, gesturing for her to enter them; which she did and buried her face in his shoulder as his large arms closed around her- his scent racing through her senses and scrambling her brain. Being in his arms felt so right yet as much as she wanted to spend the night in his arms, she knew that they both deserved better.  
Pulling back from his embrace, Jen smiled softly and pressed a sweet kiss to his stubbled cheek.  
“Thank you for the coffee and the lovely afternoon. I’ll see you Monday morning.”   
With reluctance, Brian unwound his arms from her body and let them hang limply by his sides as he watched Jen turn and walk back down the street; his heart ached as he watched her go and his cheek tingled where her lips had been.


	2. Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday morning comes around and Brian has a question.

Chapter 2

Monday morning rolled around quicker than Jen was anticipating however she found that she was both mentally and work wise prepared. Her bag had been packed the night before, and her clothes were laid out across her ottoman- she was determined to be strong today in the face of Brian and the guys, as well as getting her head back into the game work wise.   
Swinging her legs out of bed, Jen gave Laurie an affectionate stroke behind the ears before standing up- gingerly putting her foot on the floor and testing for any residual aches- her ankle healed but still suffering niggles every so often.  
“Right little guy- I’ll fill your bowl and then I’m off into the shower.” Laurie gave a chirrup in agreement and then sauntered off out of the bedroom, his tail high; Jen couldn’t help but grin.

Throwing the strap of her bag over her shoulder, Jen straightened her jacket and pushed through the main door into the offices- her head held high as she made her way to her desk on the far side of the room- she was early enough that the office was mostly empty apart from the odd cleaner and a couple of interns needing to score brownie points with their bosses.   
Placing her bag on the desktop, she placed her jacket on the back of her chair and sat herself down, taking a calming breath before she began to unload her bag: files, paperwork, iPad and mobile all filtered out and out their spot atop the desk, leaving her now pretty empty bag to be discarded to the side of the desk.  
“Coffee?” Jen’s head shot up from staring at the piles of paperwork in front of her to see Brian stood with two paper coffee mugs in hand and a genuine smile on his face.  
“Thank you.” Jen returned his smile and took the proffered cup, gesturing for Brian to pull up a perch on the edge of the desk.  
“How are you?” Brian asked, perching himself on the desk and taking a sip of his coffee, his chocolate brown eyes never leaving Jen’s.   
“I’m good, we’ve got a busy year coming up- I think you guys will be rocketed a lot further than you have been so far. There’s tours and arena dates, overseas trips and live episodes to name just a few things. All of that takes a lot of work on my part as well as yours.”  
“We’ll achieve it together, don’t worry about that.” Brian grinned, taking a long glug of his coffee and throwing his empty cup into the trash can by Jen’s desk.  
“I miss you.” He murmured, his hands thrust into his pockets and his gaze on the floor, not wanting to see the look on her face at his admittance.  
“I miss you too Brian, but we weren’t good for each other before. We needed the separation time to get our heads together to decide what we really want, from ourselves and possibly from each other.”  
“Can we try again? Me and you? But slow, like I should have agreed to before but I was too pig headed and full of my own self importance to do so.” Jen lowered her coffee and placed it on the desk before her, bringing her thumb up to her lips to chew on the already chewed nail while she digested Brian’s declaration. Her eyes scanned the entire length of his body, from his sneaker covered feet, up his legs encased in dark jeans and over his chunky torso covered in a pale blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up exposing his forearms. His form itself was enough to make her mouth water, coupled with his charm, wit and intelligent conversation- he was a man that women would give their right arm to be with however there was the case of his womanising, stubbornness and tendency to fly off the deep end into drink and depression.   
“Brian, this can’t be like it was before. I’m going to have to set some ground rules and we both must stick to them, otherwise we are going to just keep going round in this vicious circle of self destruction.”   
“I agree- I don’t want it to come to that either Jen. I just want to be with you. In whatever way you’ll have me.” Jen stood up from her desk, noting that it was nearing time for her to be setting up in the conference room, and gathered the piles of papers from her desk.   
Brian watched with avid curiosity however froze when she moved to stand directly in front of him, her free hand coming up to cup his stubbled cheek.  
“I would like that- I would like for us to spend more time together. Just us. No one else involved for now.” Brian nodded and pressed his hand to the hand that was cupping his cheek- a smile taking over his face.  
“Just us.” He murmured and the pair shared a moment before dropping their hands as the office doors opened and a couple of workers started filtering in. 

The Monday morning meeting had just come to a close, having taken a good number of hours to sort through itineraries and projected travels plans for the upcoming three months- Jen not daring to plan further than that due to schedules and timings and the inevitable change of plans, knowing the Jokers.   
“Anyone fancy going for lunch? I’m famished.” Joe asked while everyone was gathering up their papers and such- the guys planning on staying in the office to work on material and plans for the upcoming filming of the new season.   
“Lunch sounds good.” Murr grinned, looking to Sal and Brian for their responses.  
“Fine with me.” Sal agreed, carefully placing all of his paperwork in his satchel before looking to Jen and Brian.  
“What about you two?”  
“I’m starved.” Jen agreed and Brian nodded, fastening up his own satchel and grabbing his wallet and phone from the table.   
“I could definitely eat- but something proper Joey- none of this vegan or vegetarian bullshit that Bessie has you eating all the time.” The guys all chuckled and Joe shook his head.  
“Trust me dudes, whilst I’ve been away from the office and the Jokers filming I’ve eaten nothing but healthy food- I desperately need some meat and some fats.”   
“I hear ya!” Jen grinned and followed the guys out of the meeting room- heading for her desk to dump her papers and such before collecting her jacket, purse and phone; the boys waiting for her in the open area of the office- the noise rising as they all chatted and laughed, enjoying being with each other again after having a well deserved holiday break from filming and tv duties.


End file.
